Young Rand enjoys a quiet, if hard, life as a sheepherder in Emond's Field, a small town on the edge of the kingdom. The spring is slow in coming, yet everyone looks forward to the annual Bel Tine holiday. This year's celebration looks especially promising with strange visitors in town- a Warder and Aes Sedai. But the world is thrown on its head when a band of Trollocs attacks the village one night, seeking Rand and his friends. They don't get him, but will pursue them to the edge of the world if need be, for the Dark One wills it so. And so Rand flees, visiting towns and meeting creatures he'd seen only in stories. Yet even with powerful allies, there's little hope. The world has been broken before, but enjoyed a long quiet with the Dark One imprisoned. But those bonds are weakening, evil is rising, and the world may be broken again, by a mysterious "Dragon Reborn." Is it the end of the age- and the world itself?
Book one of the fourteen-book Wheel of Time series was a good introduction to the world and characters. There are definite similarities to the Lord of the Rings here, in both story and characters, yet it appears to be a more complex world (and you don't get the full story in book one; there are many questions). I also see similarities to Star Wars (Aes Sedai are basically Jedi). There's an interesting amount of 'gray'- there are multiple factions claiming to be on the side of the Light, each distrusting the other- and there are some weird gender-specific things going on (like men can't be trusted to wield the One Power). The book is epic but feels short- the pace moves along briskly, too much so in places. It's definitely compelling, though, and there was never a point where I grew bored. And, I really appreciated the complete lack of adult-oriented material; this is a PG or PG-13 read at most. I look forward to seeing where the series goes.
Rating: A
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